April 19, 2010

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UNITEDHEALTH GETS A HEAD START – WSJ’s Avery Johnson reports: “UnitedHealth Group Inc. plans on Monday to allow graduating college seniors to stay on their parents' health plans, getting out ahead of a provision of the federal health overhaul package that will go into effect in September. That law will require insurers to offer coverage of dependents up to age 26 on their parents' health plans. The new UnitedHealth policy will extend such coverage sooner, to about 150,000 children of members when those children graduate from college this spring. ... UnitedHealth's provision is only for fully insured employer-sponsored plans. The company said its individual plans already allow coverage for dependents up to 26 years old. UnitedHealth hopes to expand the coverage to large corporations that bear the risk of insuring their employees and for which UnitedHealth simply administers the plan. Such an expansion could add significantly to the reach of UnitedHealth's policy change, and UnitedHealth said that option will be available to those risk-bearing companies. While not far-reaching, the policy change is a sign that the country's largest insurer by revenue is moving quickly to comply with the new law's provisions.”

It's Monday. "Smiles Pulse you when you rise."

PULSE TODAY: President Obama will travel to California to stump for Sen. Barbara Boxer, who faces the toughest reelection fight of her Senate career. Expect the president to play up the significance of his landmark health care legislation during multiple scheduled appearances with Boxer, who touted her role in passing reform at the Democratic state convention over the weekend.

ON DECK: The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee is slated to hold a hearing Tuesday morning centered on “proposals to require corrective actions for unjustified premium hikes,” according to a statement from the committee released Friday. President Obama had wanted to include a federal rate review authority in the bill that passed in March but couldn't and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif) has introduced legislation that looks similar to Obama's proposal. The California senator will testify before the committee, as will AHIP President and CEO Karen Ignagni; Grace Marie Turner of the Galen Institute; Phyllis Menke, city clerk of Fonda, Iowa; and Michael McRaith, director of the Illinois Department of Insurance.

PULSE POLITICS:

PATAKI UNVEILS ANTI-REFORM GROUP TODAY – The Hill's Tony Romm reports: "Former New York Gov. George Pataki (R) on Sunday debuted 'Revere America' a new 501(c)(4) organization that seeks to drum up support for a prompt repeal of Democrats' healthcare reforms. Pataki officially unveiled his new group in Boston early Sunday, stressing the organization's links to the history of Paul Revere. '235 years ago Paul Revere embarked on his historic ride warning the people that their freedom was in danger. The people joined together. They defeated liberty's enemies. Our unwavering commitment to freedom has been the cornerstone of a nation that has prospered and flourished,' he said in a statement last week announcing Sunday's rally."

DEMS FACE LABOR REBELLION IN N.C. – WaPo's Phillip Rucker reports: "A political rebellion is brewing inside an old funeral home near the state Capitol here. Frustrated liberals and labor organizers are taking aim at the Democratic Party, rushing to gather enough signatures to start a third party that they believe could help oust three Democratic congressmen. Less than two years ago, this same funeral home was a command post for the grass-roots army that propelled Barack Obama to victory in this conservative swing state. ... Now, some of Obama's supporters are mounting a defiant strike against the president's party. The nascent third party, North Carolina First, could endanger the Democratic congressional majority by siphoning votes from incumbent Democrats in November's midterm election, potentially enabling Republican challengers to pick up the seats. Organizers say they are so fed up with Democrats who did not support health-care reform that they simply do not care. ... 'It's not a fly-by-night kind of thing,' said SEIU spokeswoman Lori Lodes. 'We're making a very strong commitment to doing this. There is significant money behind it ... There's not a ceiling to what we're willing to do.'"

ALTMIRE'S WINNING STRATEGY? – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Timothy McNulty reports: “In a ballroom at the AFL-CIO state convention last week, the labor federation's political director was reviewing crucial upcoming elections and showed a picture of suburban Pittsburgh Democrat Jason Altmire. Hundreds of labor leaders from across Pennsylvania booed at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Mr. Altmire's decision last month to vote against the health care reform package made him persona non grata among union members who supported his election bids in 2006 and 2008, but could catapult him to re-election for a third term in a right-leaning congressional district in an anti-incumbent year. Just ask Republicans. 'It was politically very smart,' said Harrisburg GOP consultant Charlie Gerow. 'Democrats will go with him regardless. And it softens what could have been galvanizing forces in opposition to him.'"

PELOSI, BOXER TAKE 'VICTORY LAPS' – Sacramento Bee's Jack Chang reports: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer took health care victory laps at the state Democratic Party convention Saturday, betting that the recently passed legislation will help Democratic candidates fight political head winds this year. In speeches in the convention hall and before party caucuses, the two Democrats celebrated their recent policy win. Some 3,000 Democrats were gathered at the Los Angeles Convention Center and the JW Marriott hotel for the event. 'You all made this possible,' Pelosi told the College Young Democrats. 'Take satisfaction and credit for this victory. Because when we went up to that gate, you were all pushing that gate open. And that's how we got through.' Boxer, who's facing tough challenges from three Republican candidates this year, said Democrats need to match the energy of tea party activists – and that helping families with health care is one way to do that."

FALLOUT:

DEMAND GROWS FOR HEALTH INDUSTRY JOBS – AMN’s Victoria Stagg Elliott reports: “Several reports released in March and April suggest demand for health care jobs, long stronger than the demand for jobs as a whole, is growing. A monthly report on online job ads released March 31 by the Conference Board, a nonprofit global business organization, found that the number of postings overall was unchanged. But the number for health care practitioners and technical workers, a category that includes physicians, grew by more than 88,000 to 627,300 ads in March from 539,200 in February. Ads in March were at their highest level since April 2008. The largest increase in demand was for physical and occupational therapists, registered nurses and speech pathologists.”

'PERFECT STORM' OF POLITICAL UNREST – ChiTrib's Mark Silva reports: "Only 22 percent of all Americans surveyed say they trust the government in Washington almost always or most of the time -- among the lowest measures in half a century - according to a new Pew Research Center survey released Sunday night. The results point to 'a perfect storm' of public unrest, Pew reports -- 'a dismal economy, an unhappy public, (a) bitter, partisan-based backlash and epic discontent with Congress and elected officials.... The forces contributing to the current wave of public distrust include an uncertain economic environment, overwhelming discontent with Congress and elected officials, and a more partisan environment,' Pew reports. 'The bitter and drawn-out health care debate exacerbated negative feelings about government - particularly Congress.'"

THE FACES OF REFORM’S COMPLICATIONS – LAT's Sharon Bernstein, Ann M. Simmons and Nicole Santa Cruz report: "The health insurance overhaul signed into law last month has been billed as the most sweeping reform in generations. And it is. In broad strokes, the law provides tax credits for small businesses that offer health insurance, and subsidies for people who buy it for themselves. More people will be eligible for Medicaid, and insurers won't be able to charge more for those with preexisting conditions. But when it comes down to how the law mixes with the variables of everyday life, things get complicated. Take Linda Marie McCullough. The legislation was meant to put health insurance within reach of people just like her. But she might not be able to afford it, even with substantial subsidies. For small-business owners like Pattiy and Steve Knox, there are tax rebates meant to take the sting out of group premiums. But will the help be too little, too late?"

IMPLEMENTATION:

THE PLAYERS TO KNOW – NYT's Robert Pear reports: "The success of the new health care law depends to a large degree on a handful of Obama administration officials, who are scrambling to make the transition from waging political war on Capitol Hill to managing one of the most profound changes in social policy in generations. For these officials, the task of carrying out the law may be as much of a challenge as getting it enacted ... Here are profiles of three top members of the Obama team: Jay Angoff, a longtime consumer advocate and nemesis of the insurance industry, will lead efforts to regulate insurers and insurance markets. Jeanne M. Lambrew, an idealistic veteran of the Clinton White House, is carrying out provisions of the law aimed at expanding coverage. And Phyllis C. Borzi, a top Labor Department official, will police the conduct of employers, who provide health benefits to more than 150 million Americans."

TOP OFFICIALS TRANSITION TO POST-VOTE ROLES – NYT's Jackie Calmes reports: "Mindful that the new health care law’s ability to slow rising medical costs will depend to a great extent on how it is put in effect, President Obama is assembling a high-level team to carry out key elements of the overhaul and is considering moving faster than the law requires to put them into action. The president has tapped Pete Rouse, one of his closest White House advisers, to oversee what one insider described as an ‘elaborate implementation plan.’ And he personally pressed Nancy-Ann DeParle, who directed the legislative effort and has long experience in the health sector, to shelve her plans to leave; she will instead manage construction of the machinery for extending coverage to about 30 million uninsured Americans while also moving toward the law’s long-run goal: cost containment. Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services and, before that, insurance commissioner and then governor of Kansas, has assumed a higher-profile role both within the administration and publicly."

INSURERS COULD EXPLOIT LAG IN IMPLEMENTATION – WaPo's David S. Hilzenrath reports: "Redefining medical spending to make the requirement more attainable is just one way insurers might adapt to the new legislation. Weeks after the law was enacted, insurers are still scouring it to figure out precisely what it allows. Many of the details won't be known until government officials translate the legislative language into specific regulations, and some of the tightest restrictions won't take effect for years. In the meantime, health insurers face tactical and strategic choices that could alter their short-term fortunes. ... Some analysts say the new law gives insurers powerful motivation to try to increase profits and reserves while they still can. 'They will absolutely try to cherry-pick as much as they can get away with between now and when the legislation is fully implemented,' said Wendell Potter, a former spokesman for big insurer Cigna."

CLASS PROGRAM AS 'GAME CHANGER' – Kansas City Star's Diane Stafford reports: "The young mother who becomes paraplegic after a wreck. The soldier who returns home with a severe head injury. The middle-aged woman with early dementia. They, like millions of Americans, need long-term health care. But few can afford it. That’s where a little-discussed part of the massive Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the national health care reform package, comes into the picture. Buried in the law is Title VIII, the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, or CLASS, one of the earliest programs scheduled to go into effect — on Jan. 1, 2011. CLASS is designed to give workers a consumer-financed national insurance pool to help pay for long-term care, either in their homes or in care centers, when they’re disabled enough by age, disease or injury to need it. 'It’s a game changer,' said Larry Minnix, president of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, who advocated for the concept for years."

STATES:

ILLINOIS RULING AFFECTS HOSPITAL TAX STATUS – AMN's Amy Lynn Sorrel reports: A recent Illinois Supreme Court decision could set in motion new standards for hospital charity care requirements. In a case that caught national attention, the high court upheld the revocation of Provena Covenant Medical Center's property tax exemption status after finding that the nonprofit facility did not provide enough charity care in 2002 to qualify for its $1.1 million tax break ... U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R, Iowa), the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, pledged to continue his efforts to investigate hospitals' charity care practices and develop uniform tax reporting standards. 'This ruling underscores what the Government Accountability Office and others, including the former IRS commissioner, have said for a long time. There is often no discernible difference between the operations of taxable and tax-exempt hospitals,' Grassley said. 'Tax-exempt hospitals should give more attention to their charitable activities.' The federal health reform law includes new income tax exemption requirements for hospitals that could guide the process."

N.Y. SYSTEM A LAB FOR REFORM – NYT's Anemona Hartcollis reports: "New York’s insurance system has been a working laboratory for the core provision of the new federal health care law — insurance even for those who are already sick and facing huge medical bills — and an expensive lesson in unplanned consequences. Premiums for individual and small group policies have risen so high that state officials and patients’ advocates say that New York’s extensive insurance safety net for people like Ms. Welles is falling apart. ... Since 2001, the number of people who bought comprehensive individual policies through HMOs in New York has plummeted to about 31,000 from about 128,000, according to the State Insurance Department. At the same time, New York has the highest average annual premiums for individual policies: $6,630 for single people and $13,296 for families in mid-2009, more than double the nationwide average, according to America’s Health Insurance Plans, an industry group."

PULSE OP-ED:

Heritage Foundation's Robert Moffit in the WaPo: "Think tank analysts usually brim with pride when the president of the United States goes around claiming that his policies are based on their work. But when President Obama tries to sell his health-care law as a moderate approach that borrows ideas developed by the Heritage Foundation, we get incensed. The Obama health-care law ‘builds’ on the Heritage health reform model only in the sense that, say, a double-quarter-pounder with cheese ‘builds’ on the idea of a garden salad. Both have lettuce and tomato and may be called food, but the similarities end there. This is why we at the Heritage Foundation respectfully ask President Obama and his acolytes to stop misrepresenting our research. We think this massive health law is abominable and should be repealed. And until Congress repeals it, lawmakers should starve this monstrosity of taxpayer funds."

Boston Globe editorial: "Once Congress passed a national health reform law that followed the Massachusetts plan, the state was almost sure to lose Jon Kingsdale’s services. The former insurance executive is the first head of the agency overseeing reform here, and he makes no bones about his interest in bringing what he has learned to the national stage, whether for government, the private sector, or a non-profit. During his four years as head of the Connector Authority, the state agency managed to balance the interests of employers, insurers, medical providers, and the public, while reducing the number of uninsured to fewer than 3 percent. Its website exchange of insurers’ offerings will be a model for many other states. The Connector helped persuade most of the state’s young invincibles to buy insurance, in part by enlisting a valuable ally — the Boston Red Sox. Not everything that works in Massachusetts is transferable to the national level, of course, but the task of putting a complex law into action takes expertise that few other than Kingsdale possess."

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So what! Most college grads are 21 - 23 years old. Sounds like nothing more than an advertisement for United Healthcare couched as news. Meanwhile, the idiot dolt Obama is focused like a laser beam on jobs (ROFLMAO), as he hits the links for a 32nd time in 16 months. In contrast, GW Bush played 24 rounds in 8 years.

Posted By: So what! Most college grads are 21 - 23 years old. Sounds like nothing more than an advertisement fo | April 19, 2010 at 08:21 AM

So what! Most college grads are 21 - 23 years old. Sounds like nothing more than an advertisement for United Healthcare couched as news. Meanwhile, the idiot dolt Obama is focused like a laser beam on jobs (ROFLMAO), as he hits the links for a 32nd time in 16 months. In contrast, GW Bush played 24 rounds in 8 years.

Posted By: So what! Most college grads are 21 - 23 years old. Sounds like nothing more than an advertisement fo | April 19, 2010 at 08:21 AM

So What! Obama is focused on his golf game than the economy, stupid. Obama is not a leader, he is an incompetent dolt,and you
jhoger, are nothing but a wannabee self hating Joe Klein type with your head so far up Obama's Kenyan Marxist behind, it is no longer funny.

Posted By: So What! Obama is focused on his golf game than the economy, stupid. Obama is not a leader, he is | April 19, 2010 at 10:45 AM

N.Y.'s system is a lab for what reform? The distinction between ObamaCare in NY guaranteed issue law is that ObamaCare has the personal responsibility mandate, and NY doesn't. NY is a lab for ObamaCare only if they had done it wrong and simply outlawed discrimination on the basis of pre-existing conditions. That's the whole point. They could have gone for a one-page reform but it would not have worked.

If you want to look at a lab for ObamaCare, CommonwealthCare is identical in the important aspects... exchange, mandate, no discrimination, subsidies/medicaid for the poor.

Dan, it would be more accurate to say that Scott Brown's job was created by conservative lies about the stimulus bill, and health care reform, and his birth certificate, and of course a weak Democratic candidate. Brown is going to have to work for it if he wants to get re-elected in 2012, and parroting Republican strategy talking points as he did this weekend is not going to work. He needs to be a consensus builder, work across the aisle, get things done as he promised, not just Say No for strategic reasons.

jhoger, why do you always assume that anyone who disagrees with you is lying? That just gets old after a while and makes it hard to have any sort of meaningful discussion with you. While Democrats heavily outnumber Republicans in MA, the independents in that state are huge. And they aren't as hardline leftist as you or Mr Obama. Brown was voted in because the people of MA didn't want Obamacare. His slogan was being the 40th vote for fillibuster. MA was the canairy in the coal mine for you guys. You have overreached on liberal policy issues to the point of losing independents. And you know I'm right because you read the same polls I read. Jhoger, you can be a fun debating partner at times. But when you get into this sort of hyperpartisan mood you don't leave much room for discussion.

If you gloss over polls that show consistently high polling for the public option, I agree that you could arrive at the same wrong conclusion you do.

I think people don't like HCR because they are uninformed, misinformed, or partisan (anti-Obama, anti-Democrat). ObamaCare is a very centrist approach that makes the MINIMUM regulatory changes necessary to get guaranteed issue, and higher quality coverage in the individual market which everyone sensible wants. I just don't think that the average person believes it will work, for a variety of reasons, but most of the concerns I think are based on right wing propaganda.

jhoger: Scott Brown won because even the citizens of the Peoples Republic of Massachusetts are sick and tired of the Democrats and their 'well intentioned' failed liberal policies. They have had it with Obama and the likes of Ted Kennedy. Did you know that Democrats are confiscating $30 million in DEFENSE Funding to pay for a shrine to Ted Kennedy in Dorchester, MA? Yup, that's right... $30 million stolen from our troops and military for a good ol' boy shrine to a drunken sot.... Kerry, Markey and Democrats have come up with some mindless twisted logic to try to justify it, which nobody is buying. Apparently they haven't learned from Browns victory either.
The only fitting shrine to Ted Kennedy would be a '69 Olds with a bottle of scotch hood ornament falling off a bridge.

jhoger, if you poll and ask people if they want the goodies without asking them how they will be paid for then you are right. Everyone would love to buy the world a coke and watch it sing in perfect harmony. But when you poll on the half trillion dollar cut to medicare, the sweetheart deals to labor unions, big pharma and trial lawyers (all big DNC contributors) and the massive unfunded medicaid mandates that are being dumped on bankrupt states then the poll numbers go down quite a bit. Be honest jhoger. Or at least try.

Yes, Dan, if you only poll on the downside/cost and not the net benefit, then yeah, of course it comes out lopsided against. It's all in how you ask the question.
And Dan, "Be honest jhoger. Or at least try."

Do you have no shame? I'm still waiting on your admission of error: 54B/10Y.